1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to games normally played in an arcade environment, and more particularly to such games played by directing a playing piece across a playing surface.
2. Background of the Related Art
Games of many types are played in arcade environments. Roll-down games are popular types of arcade games that utilize a ramp and a playing piece, such as a coin, that is directed down the ramp. A player can direct the coin onto or into targets or around obstacles, and a game score is accumulated based upon the player's success.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,551, by Crompton, describes a game in which a player inserts a coin and activates a trigger on a coin gun to release a rolling coin onto a moving belt of targets. A player may activate the trigger multiple times to release multiple coins for each inserted coin.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,127, by Bromley et al., describes a coin bowling game in which a player directs the path of an inserted coin to roll on a playing field toward target pins. The coin is directed by a pivoting coin chute.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,261,577, by Ellis, describes a game in which players on opposing sides of a playing field each propels a washer onto the playing field and into various apertures and obstacles. Each player uses a spring load ejector mechanism to propel the washers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,303,248, by Shoemaker, Jr. et al., describes a game in which players can each use a pivotable coin shute to direct coins onto a surface having accumulated coins. A vertical dam translates over the surface to drop certain coins over the edge for a player score. Games of the prior art, while enjoyable, tend to be simplistic and, as such, can lead to rapid player boredom. For example, the games of the prior art all provide one coin for the player to direct at a time, which can lead to repetitive, monotonous game action. This is undesirable in an arcade environment where revenues are directly related to the continuous, repeated use of the games.